Wrapping device for oranges and other articles.



. H. BALLARD.

' WRAPPING DEVICE FOR ORANGBS AND OTHER ARTIGLES =APPLIOATION FILED 3.25, 1901. RENEWED 10,1905.

' Patented Dec. 8,1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 1.

m9 14 u I v 113 wimfxszs'edl 141 r [@0671 Z0 144 I fM T -rn: NORRIS PETERS co., WASHINGTON, 0. c.

M; H. BAL-LARD.

WRAPPING DEVICE FOR CHANGES AND} OTHER ARTICLES. APPLICATION 11.31) 3.25, 1907. nmrnw'nn APB. 6,1908

905,978. 7 Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Z/z'Zzzsses: 15711222 Zak.

ma wuwmiffi @ifl I Y WW h rm: NuRms PETERS ca, wsmm: 01v, 0, c.

MILTON H. BALLARD, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

WRAPPING DEVICE FOR ORANGES OTHER ARTICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.-

Application filed March 25, 1907, Serial No. 864,394. Renewed April 6, 1908. Serial No. 425,449.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILTON H. BALLARD, of Lynn, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Wrapping Devices for Oranges and other Articles, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to wrapping machines for wrapping oranges and the like, and is intended as an improvement u on the wrapping machine shown in my app ication for Letters Patent #300,331, filed February 9, 1906.

In the machine shown in said application a receiver is employed in which the oranges are placed, stem end uppermost or otherwise, and held separated from each other, and a carrier is provided for successively removing the oranges singly from the receiver and for conveying them to a position above or adjacent to the wrapping-device, and for holding them in such position while means provided for the purpose operate to disengage them therefrom and move them into engagement with the wrapping-device. The carrier employed for'this purpose has a pair of orange-engaging jaws which are movable toward and from each other, and my present invention has for its object to improve and simplify the construction of the means employed for operating said jaws.

Figure 1 shows in elevation a carrier provided with means embodying my invention for moving it. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the carrier and operating mechanism therefor shown in Fig. 1, the carrier being represented in the position it will occupywhen adjacent the wrapping-device, the orange borne by it having just been removed from it. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of the means for operating the tripping-device, taken on the dotted line 33 Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view showing in end elevation the carrier and the tripping-device. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the operating mechanism for the carrier, the dotted lines showing the carrier in the position it will occupy when adjacent the receiver preparatory to taking an orange therefrom. Fig. 6 is a detail showing a plan view of the tripping-device.

The carrier itself is constructed substantially as shown in my said application,

wherein 1'18 and 128 represent a pair of parallel bars having curved or offset ends, each bearing a pair of yieldingly supported plates 115 and 125, which are adapted to engage and hold the orange, and said bars have rack-teeth formed on their adjacent edges. These bars are arranged upon a horizontal supporting-plate 122, and are held thereon by suitable guides in which they are adapted to be moved longitudinally, so that the yielding plates 115 and 125, which constitute the engaging-portions of the orange-engaging jaws, will be correspondingly moved to engage the orange.

A pinion 121 is secured to the upper end of a short shaft, which latter is vertically disposed in the plate 122 and extends through said plate, and a toothed sector 132 is secured to the lower end of said shaft which engages a sector 133 mounted loosely on a vertical shaft 123, which is supported by suitable bearings. The pinion 121 is located between and engages both rack bars' 118, 128, and when turned operates to move said bars longitudinally in opposite directions.

Mechanism to be described is provided for positively turning said pinion in one direction to move the rack-bars and separate the orange-engaging jaws, and springs 144, 145, are provided, which are connected to said bars and to fixed points of the frame for moving said bars in the opposite directions to move the orange-engaging jaws toward each other. I

The shaft 123 bearing the carrier is adapted to be turned on its vertical axis to thereby swing the carrier back and .forth in a horizontal plane one-fourth of a revolution or thereabouts, for the orange-engaging jaws to engage an orange held by the receiver and to convey it to the wrappingdevice and then return for the next orange and so on. While the carrier is moving from the receiver to the wrapping-device the orange-engaging jaws will be held closed upon the orange and while the carrier is returning for the next orange, said orangeengaging jaws will be separated preparatory to engaging the orange contained in the receiver, and will be permitted to close upon said orange at the end of its return stroke.

For the purpose of turning the shaft 123 on its vertical axis, a toothed sector 146 is secured to the shaft which is engaged by a rack-bar 147, which extends rear-wardly and has at its rear end a slotted portion 148 which embraces the shaft @4 and also has a pin 149 projecting laterally from it which enters a groove in a cam disk 150 which is secured to said shaft u During a revolution of the cam-disk 150, the rack-bar 147 will be moved back and forth and a vertical shaft 123 oscillated, being given one-quarter turn or thereabouts in one direction and then returned.

Means are provided for holding the loose gear 133 in a fixed position for a part or all of the time the shaft 123 is turning in a direction to return the carrier, that is to say, to move it from the wrapping-device to the receiver, and as shown in the drawings from the position Fig. 2 to the dotted line position Fig. 5 in order that said gear 133 may act as a driving-gear to rotate the pinion 121 and thereby move the rack-bars 118, 128 in opposite ways and separate the orangeengaging jaws, and at the end of such return movement said loose gear is disengaged and the springs 144, 145 permitted to act to move the rack-bars in the opposite directions to close the jaws upon the orange. The means herein shown for accomplishing this result consists of a post 134 having its bearings in the frame-work which is provided at its upper end with a laterally extended arm 135 having an upturned end, adapted to be engaged by a dog 136, which is formed on the hub of the loose gear 133, said dog being therefore rigidly secured to or formed integral with said gear, and said arm 135 has attached to it a spring 137 which acts to normally hold it in a predetermined position. The lower end of the upright post 134 has an arm 139 extended laterally from it which bears at its extremity an adjusting screw 140 which is adapted to be engaged by a pin 141 rising from the toothed sector 146, and thereby moved to in turn move the post 134 on its vertical axis. The operation is as follows. WVhen the shaft 123 begins to turn to swing the carrier from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 5, the rack-bars are held by the springs 144 and 145, with the jaws in close proximity to each other, the orange having just been disengaged therefrom. As said shaft 123 turns, the carrier is swung about said shaft as an axis, and the toothed sector 132 is moved about the toothed gear 133, which operates to turn said gear 133 which is loose on the shaft until the dog 136 on its hub engages a tripping-arm 135. As herein shown approximately one-half the return movement of the carrier is consumed in this moving the dog into engagement with the trippingarm, but the extent of this movement is immaterial so far as my invention is concerned. The loose gear 133 then becomes fixed, being restrained from rotation by said trippingarm, and as the carrier continues its return movement the toothed sector 132 is moved by said gear 133, which is thus held fixed, and is itself caused to rotate and in turn causes the pinion 121 to rotate and move the rack-bars 118, 128, in opposite ways against the action of the springs144, 145, to separate the orange-engaging jaws. The said jaws continue to separate until just as the carrier arrives at the end of its return stroke when the pin 141 on the toothed sector 146 strikes the adjusting-screw 140 and moves the arm 139 and turns the upright post 134 and moves the tripping-arm 135, out of engagement with the dog 136. The dog 136 being thus released the loose gear 133 is no longer held stationary and the springs 144, 145, immediately act to move the rack-bars in opposite directions and close the orange-engaging jaws upon the orange. The carrier having thus engaged the orange, is then swung in the opposite direction to convey the orange to the wrappingdevice, and during its entire stroke the toothed sector 132 moves about the loose gear 133 and operates to turn said loose gear returning it and the dog connected with it to normal position, as shown in Fig. 2. The orange is then disengaged from the aws by means provided for the purpose, and the operation of the carrier is then repeated. The shaft 123 is furthermore adapted to be moved vertically to lift the carrier when in proximity to the receiver so as to remove the orange from the receiver upon a rising movement as soon as the jaws close upon it, and preparatory to conveying the orange to the wrapping-device. For the purpose of thus moving the vertical shaft 123 in a vertical direction to lift the carrier, a lever 151 is provided which is pivoted at 152 at a point intermediate its length, and one end of said lever supports the vertical shaft 123 or otherwise engages it, and the opposite end of said lever has a laterally projecting pin with or without a roll thereon which enters a groove formed in a cam disk 155 which is secured to the shaft n During each revolution of the cam disk 155 the lever 151 is operated to raise and also permit the return of the vertical shaft 123.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 2-- 1. In a machine for wrapping oranges and other articles, a carrier having apair of orange-engaging jaws, a shaft bearing it, means for oscillating said shaft, a loose gear on said shaft for operating said aws, a tripping-device for restraining rotation of said gear, and means for operating said tripping-device, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for wrapping oranges and other articles, a carrier having a pair of orange-engaging jaws, a shaft bearing it, means for oscillating said shaft, a loose gear on said shaft for operating said jaws, a tripping-device for restraining rotation of said gear while the carrier is moved in one direction, and means for operating said tripping-device to free the gear at the end of the stroke of the carrier, substantially as described.

3. In a machine for wrapping oranges and other articles, a carrier having a pair of sliding orange-engaging jaws, a shaft bearing it, means for oscillating said shaft, springs for moving said jaws in one direction, and means for moving said jaws in the opposite direction, a loose gear on said shaft for operating said means, as the carrier is moved, a tripping-device for restraining rotation of said gear to operate said means, and means for operating said tripping-device to free said gear, substantially as described.

4. In a machine for wrapping oranges and other articles, a carrier having a pair of orange-engaging jaws, a shaft bearing it, means for oscillating said shaft, means for lifting said shaft to lift the carrier, a loose gear on said shaft for operating said jaws, a tripping-device for temporarily restraining rotation of said gear and means for operating said tripping-device, substantially as described.

5. In a machine for wrapping oranges and other articles, a carrier having a pair of sliding orange-engaging jaws, each having rack toothed portions, a shaft bearing it, means for oscillating said shaft, a pinion engaging both rack toothed portions borne by the carrier, a sector on the shaft for said pinion, a loose gear on the carrier-shaft which is engaged by said sector, a trippingdevice for temporarily restraining rotation of said gear, and means for operatin said tripping-device, substantially as descri ed.

6. In a machine for wrapping oranges and other articles, a carrier having a pair of sliding orange-engaging jaws, each having rack toothed portions, a shaft hearing it, means for oscillating said shaft, a pinion engaging both rack toothed portions borne by the carrier, a sector on the shaft of said pinion, a loose gear on the carrier-shaft, which is engaged by said sector, a dog connected with said loose gear, a tripping-device adapted to be engaged by said dog to temporarily restrain rotation of said loose gear, and means for moving said trippingdevice to thereby disengage said dog and release the loose gear, substantially as described.

7. In a machine for wrapping oranges and other articles, a carrier having a pair of orange-engaging jaws, a shaft hearing it, means for oscillating said shaft, a loose gear on said shaft for operating said jaws, a dog connected with said loose gear, a trippingdevice adapted to be engaged by said dog, and means for moving said tripping-device to disengage the dog and thereby release the toothed gear, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MILTON H. BALLARD.

Witnesses:

A. D. NIoHoLs, M. S. ROBERTSON. 

